A Unified Plan for Mathematical and Moleclular Modeling Data Analysis and Chemical Communication in the Laboratory Curriculum

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Computers and computing skills are increasingly important for the practicing chemist. Used in conjunction with the laboratory course, mathematical and molecular modeling, and computer analysis of data can enhance the students' understanding of the various representations of chemical systems: macroscopic as observed in laboratory; microscopic through molecular modeling; and symbolic, through data analysis and mathematical modeling. Written laboratory reports provide an effective venue for communicating both results of experiments, and conclusions drawn from analyses. We are establishing a chemistry computer laboratory and two data acquisition stations to be used throughout the chemistry majors' curriculum. Beginning with the general chemistry course we are introducing a set of carefully chosen software applications in graphing, word processing, spreadsheets, molecular modeling and computational chemistry, mathematical modeling, and data acquisition and analysis. The new laboratory significantly upgrades all aspects of chemical computing in our department, in accordance with the goals and objectives outlined in our Department's Program Assessment Plan.